UAB scientists work to grow bone, blood vessels, other tissues

If you caught today's Health page story about tissue engineering at UAB, you might want to check out this video.

In this new and growing
field, engineers and biologists are working together to grow blood
vessels, skin, bone, ligaments and even entire organs from a few human
cells -- all in the laboratory. If successful, those engineered
tissues can then be transplanted into patients to help heal a range of
ailments, from coronary artery disease to diabetes to osteoarthritis.

"If you talk about the science of tomorrow, it's already here," said
Tim Wick, professor and chairman of the department of biomedical
engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and co-director
of University of Alabama at Birmingham's BioMatrix Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Center.

And now there's a chance for the public to explore some of the
concepts behind regenerative medicine with an exhibit that's visiting
the McWane Science Center in Birmingham through Jan. 2.

The exhibit, called "If A Starfish Can Grow a New Arm, Why Can't I?," was
created for the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh; Birmingham is
the second stop on its national tour. When McWane President and CEO Tim
Ritchie learned it was coming, he decided to add a Birmingham touch.